Plants bloom and disappear from this Perrier-Jouët table as you move around it

The great outdoors are inherently relaxing and fulfilling but most of us can’t make it out to the wilderness every day. If you can’t go out to enjoy nature, you can always bring a little nature into your home with the Ephemera kinetic furniture pieces. Champagne maker Perrier-Jouët commissioned Vienne design duo Mischer Traxler to create a series of work exploring the relationship between humans and the natural world for the Design Miami 2014 fair.
The highlight of the installation is a large oak table with ultrasonic sensors embedded with a variety of two-dimensional metallic plants and insects that represent current, extinct and rediscovered species. The botanical motifs rise up and move to their own choreography, if they ‘feel’ they are not being watched. When someone approaches, they flatten themselves against the wooden top, reinventing a kinetic form of traditional marquetry.

The installation also includes mirrors featuring similar botanical forms across their surface. The digital leaves grow across the mirrors extending into 3D forms, but only as long as people are not too close. Otherwise they retract, leaving just a normal, reflective mirror.